Showing posts with label The Reading List. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Reading List. Show all posts

Friday, May 12, 2017

My Current Reading List

I suspect that I am like most inveterate readers, in that I often have more than one book underway at any particular time. I don’t know why this is. What is it about some books that keep you glued to the page, reading late into the night, while others manage to keep you engaged for the first few chapters before your interest begins to tail off to the point you finally give up (though not completely), and you turn to that second or third book on your tottering pile of reading material stacked on the dresser next to your bed?

I also suspect that the comment about ‘not completely’ giving up is also true for many readers. Some half-read books sit next to my bed or on the bookcase in the lounge room for weeks and months, waiting patiently for my return. These books may not have the ability to keep me up late at night, but neither do they fall completely off my reading list. There is just enough of interest in the story they are telling to keep me on the hook, waiting for the right moment to take up the tale again.

As for my current reading list—the three books I have been juggling this month are Jimmy Breslin’s Table Money, J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy, and Joseph Michael Reynolds’ Dead Ends, a book detailing—as the subtitle states—The Pursuit, Conviction, and Execution of Serial Killer Aileen Wuornos.

I started out the month with Table Money, by Jimmy Breslin. I have mentioned Breslin in other posts, noting that to date I have bought eight of his books. Of these eight I have read four titles, and Table Money was going to be my fifth Breslin book.

Table Money recounts the story of several generations of ‘sandhogs’, a name adopted by the tunnel workers who toiled beneath the streets of New York City carving out the subterranean tunnels that brought fresh water to the great metropolis. All the Breslin trademarks are here—hard working, and even harder drinking working class immigrants; corrupt politicians and union leaders; brutal bosses and their meaner henchmen who stand over the immigrant workers ensuring they remain unorganised and un-unionised; and long-suffering wives and their under-educated children.

Despite the glowing praise for the book (“…a serious literary novel, a superior work of fiction.”—The New York Times; “…a heavyweight saga in an era of welterweights,”—Los Angeles Times; and “…easily Breslin’s best novel.”—Library Journal), I found the going tough and put the book aside around a quarter of the way through.

Last week I bought J.D. Vance’s much acclaimed memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. Subtitled, A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis—the ‘culture in crisis’ being that of white working-class Americans. James David Vance grew up in the Rust Belt city of Middletown, Ohio, and the Appalachian town of Jackson, Kentucky. His grandparents were “dirt poor and in love,” and moved north from Kentucky to Ohio to escape the endemic poverty that surrounded them in Jackson. 

They raised a middle-class family, which eventually included the author who went on to graduate from Yale Law School, and who has now written a timely book that may provide some of the answers to the many questions being asked about the rise of the alt-right in America and the unexpected rise of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States.

Again, despite my interest in America and American politics, and despite the fact that I was settling into the book quite comfortably, I somehow managed to distract myself by working on entries for this blog, and by the other general reading that I do. And then, wouldn’t you know it, before I could get back to Hillbilly Elegy, along came Aileen Wournos.

Wournos was one of those atypical phenomena that thankfully come along all too rarely, that is, a female serial killer. I had seen and been greatly moved by the 2002 film, Monster, in which Charlize Theron portrayed Wounos with a stunning Academy Award winning performance that would earn her an Oscar for Best Actress—so when I saw the eBook being offered at a discount for just USD$1.99, I jumped at the chance to buy it. 

Joseph Michael Reynolds was a journalist for Reuters at the time Aileen Wuornos was embarking on her late-1980s killing spree, and it was Reynolds who first broke the story in the national media. First published in 1992, Dead Ends traces the story of Wuornos, a person who might have fitted very well into J.D. Vance’s book as just another of the millions of down on their luck working Joe’s with few prospects, and even fewer options for escaping the hole they had found themselves in. Holes, it should be said, that they mostly dig themselves.

Here at last is a book that has managed to keep me up at night. As I write, I am down to the final few chapters, and with less than an hour or so of reading remaining, I will finish the book later today. I will then make my way back to Hillbilly Elegy, and before the month is out, I will take another look at Jimmy Breslin’s novel. Having said that, there are dozens of other books straining for my attention, and any one of those might win out over Table Money or for that matter Hillbilly Elegy.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

The Reading List 4

Welcome to another roundup of the some of the more interesting discoveries I’ve made as I wander the digital highways and byways of the Internet. This week I am focussing (non pun intended) on photography.

The first two items are two of the most useful eBooks that have come to my attention in a long time. What is more, both eBooks are available as free downloads.

Going Candid

A book about street photography in the digital age. Forget what you know about street photography and read how Thomas Leuthard (85mm) explores the street with his camera. You will find a wealth of useful tips and tricks on how to approach people, getting closer to them and get the best out of you street experience.

As Thomas himself writes: [his] "...workflow starts without a camera and ends in the galleries of this World. It's not about the Decisive Moment or how you set up your camera. It's more about the approach of getting a successful street photographer who will build a successful community around the World.

It's all about sharing and socializing. You will be taken to a journey through the big cities of this World looking into the eyes of strangers. Candid is the key word and you will not be disappointed. Stay tuned for an exclusive book which will change your life as a street photographer."

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As if giving away one eBook is not enough, Thomas Leuthard has topped this with a second eBook that at 99 pages is even bigger than Going Candid, and filled with just as much interesting and useful information.

Collecting Souls

Thomas writes: "While the first book was about the basics, this book is more advanced and contains a lot of personal thoughts and ideas.

I tried to explain what Street Photography means to me and how I see it. It contains more than 30 short chapters about the different areas and topics of street photography. It should help beginners to understand the process of making story telling photos and to improve your personal style as a street photographer.

Together with the first book it will be a good reference for anyone who wants to become a street photographer."

Now there's an understatement if ever I saw one! 

Thomas Leuthard online
85mm.ch website…
Twitter: @85mm_ch

Thanks to the Seven by Five website for bringing these books to my attention. Seven by Five have provided a list of great photography eBooks (including the two above) that are well worth checking out. Some are free, and others can be bought for a small fee.

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10 Things Henri Cartier-Bresson Can Teach You About Street Photography
Eric Kim has put together a great photo essay outlining titled: 10 Things Henri Cartier-Bresson Can Teach You About Street Photography. You will find it online here...

Among Eric's suggestions: Focus on geometry, Be patient, Travel, Stick to one lens, Take photos of children (see image), Be unobtrusive, See the world like a painter, Don’t crop,  Don’t worry about processing, and Always strive for more.

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There is much to discover in the downloads available here and on the websites, so if you are interested at all in improving your photographic skill, I highly recommend all three sites.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

The Reading List 3

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the some of the more interesting discoveries I’ve made as I wander the digital highways and byways of the Internet. This week we’re examining great train journeys.

The longest rail journey I’ve ever made took place back in the early 1970s when I travelled from Greece to London. To be quite honest, I don’t remember much of the journey now, but when I read Top 10 European Train Trips by Randall H. Duckett on the National Geographic Traveler website, it did trigger some long lost memories of that ride

National Geographic don’t mention rail travel from Athens to London in this feature (I don’t know if it is even possible to take a train from Athens to London anymore), but among their ten suggestions they list Switzerland’s Chocolate Train, the Trans-Siberian Railway (Moscow to Vladivostok), the Orient Express (London to Venice), and the Danube Express (London to Istanbul).

Much of European train travel is about efficiency and comfort—punctually leaving and arriving and having a cozy seat or sleeper compartment in which to devour the latest issue of the Economist. But rail travel in the United Kingdom and on the Continent is also about experience: gaping out the window at Alpine glaciers, savoring gourmet cuisine in a restored last-century dining car. Accordingly, our ten favorite European trains don’t necessarily offer the fastest journeys—just the most memorable. All aboard!

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12 of the Most Scenic Train Rides in the World
Not to be out done by National Geographic Traveler, the Boots n All website have coincidentally compiled their own list of the 12 of the Most Scenic Train Rides in the World.

In her article, Zoë Smith mentions Norway’s Flåm Railway, whose “…20km descent is amongst the steepest in the world, twisting through yawning ravines, cascading waterfalls, remote Nordic farmhouses and snow-dusted mountain peaks.”

While this 20km trip last barely an hour, Russia’s Trans-Siberian, journey takes a good week to traverse the 9,000km (6,000 miles) of track that snakes its way from Moscow to Vladivostok. And that’s without getting out along the route to explore some of the cities the Trans-Siberian passes through.

Like the Trans-Siberian, Norway’s Flåm Railway also gets a gong in the National Geographic roundup of great journeys.

Other rail journeys that rate a mention in Zoë Smith’s piece include the Canadian Rockies Railway, the Cusco to Machu Picchu (Peru), The Palace on Wheels (India), and The Ghan (Australia), which departs from my home town, Adelaide. If you are considering a train journey, both these articles are a great place to begin your researches.

More Information
National Geographic Traveler: Top 10 European Train Trips…

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Maeklong Market, Bangkok
Here’s one train journey that has to be seen to be believed, as a train passes through Bangkok’s Maeklong Market. On the surface this seems like a rather unremarkable event until you actually see how the stall holders and the train have found a way to coexist together.


Saturday, September 10, 2011

The Reading List #2

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the some of the more interesting discoveries I’ve made as I wander the digital highways and byways of the Internet.

(Left) Blog of The Week: Daytonian in Manhattan

Tom Miller, the writer behind this site describes himself as "A transplanted Buckeye.” Tom moved to New York in 1979 and immediately fell in love with it.

“I've never stopped being a tourist, [and] never stopped finding the charm and uniqueness of this city," he says.

Tom has turned his love for New York City and his continuing search for its “…charm and uniqueness” into one of the best online collections of information about hundreds of New York’s unique buildings and architecture. What I particularly love about the site is that for the most part, instead of writing about the tallest and most famous of New York’s buildings, Tom has focussed on hundreds of smaller structures the guide books overlook. In fact, these are buildings that millions of New Yorkers and visitors walk past every day and never give a second thought to – assuming they gave a thought to them in the first place.

While the Daytonian in Manhattan site design could do with a makeover, there is no question that the content is factual, well researched, and fascinating. There is enough content on this site to fill two guide books and I have suggested as much to Tom in an email. At the very least, a little reworking of the content would make an excellent eBook or two, and could even be rejigged into very handy iPhone and iPad applications.

The site would be greatly enhanced if Tom could put together some walking tours utilising his blog posts. At the very least, better label of blog entries would make searching across the site for buildings in say, Greenwich Village much easier, since this seems a bit hit and miss at the moment.

Despite these caveats, Daytonian in Manhattan is a site I return to often. Check it out for yourself…

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Three years ago, a narrow pine door, edged in bright blue paint and covered with some 242 signatures, resurfaced in a storage space of the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. The door turned out to be from a popular Greenwich Village bookstore that once operated at 4 Christopher Street. The door was removed by the manager when the shop closed in 1925 and bought by the Ransom Center in 1960, after a dealer spotted an ad in the Saturday Review asking, “Want a door?”

What is so special about this door? It seems that the bookstore was a popular hangout for some of the most famous writers, artists, poets, dancers and actors of the early 1900s. Furthermore, it became somewhat of a tradition for many of these creative figures to scratch their names into the door panels. Among the 242 signatures on the door are the names of Theodore Dreiser and John Dos Passos;  also there is Emily Strunsky, a childhood friend of George Gershwin. Emily is credited with giving Gershwin a copy of DuBose Heyward’s novel “Porgy,” which of course Gershwin later turned into Porgy and Bess.

There are still many signatures on the door for which little or nothing is known about the signers – and this is where you, dear reader, come in. Thanks to the Internet, you may be able to identify one or more of the signatures or signers, and thereby help to fill in the blanks with regard to many of Greenwich Village’s most famous denizens.

Jennifer Schuessler is an editor at the Book Review, and wrote this article for the New York Times. Visit the University of Texas web site and check out the signatures, bios, and play detective.

Note: New York Times articles are eventually only available by subscription. As of this posting, the article referred to above can still be viewed online.
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Photo: © Paul Taggart for The New York Times


Just in case anyone reading this has a spare $2.25 million lying around, this home at 110 Longfellow Road in Staten Island's, Todt Hill is up for grabs. The home was used in the movie "The Godfather."

Thanks to the New York Times for this tip…

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